The Return
by AppletheFox4eva88
Summary: Eggman has been defeated, or so Sonic and the gang think. But when strange and bizzare events keep occuring in Mobius, it is up to the gang to fing out what is causing all of the trouble, but what if it is too much for them to handle? With emotions running wild, friendships being destroyed what are they to do? Various love triangles, characters from past/present/future DRAMA!
1. Just another Day

Hi guys, long time no see, am I right?

Anyway, I decided that since I hadn't posted any literature for some time now I'd take another shot at it with this story written below.

I was also like to add that I do not own Sonic or any of the characters mentioned within this story.

Now this story will contain many different couplings and love triangles, so please don't flame me about certain parts, it'll all make sence once the next chapters are posted.

**Prologue:**

In a world filled with hate and envy, a team of unlikely heroes must rise to take their places in the circle of life.

The world as they know it seems as normal as can be, Eggman was defeated for the fortieth time and once again left without a trace.  
Or so it seems.

Though a series of bizarre and strange events in both Station Square and Angel Island raise suspicion for our young heroes as they must work together to ensure the safety of the universe is kept.

It seems impossible for Eggman to make a return, but as these out of the ordinary happenings keep occurring, what are our heroes meant to do?

To try and save the world once again while juggling emotions and feelings, having to sacrifice themselves to save each other and having to reunite with some old friends can be very challenging for said heroes.

Will they be able to handle Eggman's latest and most dangerous plan yet, or will they crumble as he picks off each character one by one?

There's only one way to find out...

* * *

**Chapter one: A peaceful beginning.**

It was a bright and sunny morning as our favourite blue hedgehog rose from his peaceful slumber to slowly lift his eyelids, and reveal his emerald green eyes. The blue speed-demon sat up in his bed with a yawn as he stretched out his arms and legs, preparing himself for a day filled with exploring and adventuring into the unknown areas of Mobius.

He looked over from his bed to see his golden younger brother still lightly snoring away in his bed, unaware of his older brother's soft gaze upon him. Sonic flipped off his covers and swung his legs over the bed as he stood up and headed for the kitchen, leaving Tails to sleep in some more.

Tails had been working extremely hard lately, with Eggman out of the way he had all the time in the world to design new inventions, fix old ones and work on his favourite ones too. Sonic had been very supportive of the young boy's talent, not everyone can create a massive machine that can transport people to other dimensions within a days' time.

Especially since the death of Cosmo, Tails had managed to compose himself and keep track of his life, but there were still some of those times when he needed that reassurance from his brother. Just to let him now that everything will be alright.

Sonic on the other hand understood Tails' way of thinking, if something was troubling him, he would go out and invent some crazy machine to take his mind off it. Sonic was quite the same, if he was having troubles, he'd go out and find the most exotic places to explore and run around it, usually it would help.

As Sonic sat down to eat some breakfast, he could help but wonder if Eggman was actually gone. It was true that Sonic and the gang had defeated him after his last hostile plan to take over the world, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that the deranged scientist was still out there.

* * *

Meanwhile,

Rouge and Shadow were up and about at the G.U.N base where they did part-time work for them, helping the commander solve problems and sort things out. Though Rouge didn't really care, she only worked there because she had nothing better to do, and the fact they caught her trying to steal jewels from them. She didn't mind it though, she got to fly around being a secret agent and go on adventures, in her spare time she would fly up to Angel Island to get a glimpse of her favourite emerald.

But was it the emerald that would draw her to that island, or was it the breath-taking scenery, maybe it was the constant allure of the wildflowers that grew there, or was it simply because of the muscular red guardian that lived there?

Rouge had always been fond of Knuckles, even when he would fight with her and threaten to hurt her if she touched his emerald. Sure he could be a pain at times, but she loved the attention. She could feed off of it, that feeling of someone noticing her filled her with passion and even though she gets many wolf-whistles a day from various men, it was nothing compared to the feeling he gave her.

She'll never admit her feelings towards Knuckles to anyone and she acts as if she finds him repulsive, but whenever someone else flirts with him she can't help but become jealous and envious. Her excuse for her affection and flirty behaviour towards the guardian was always something along the lines of "I only do it to draw his attention away from the Master Emerald so I can steal it". It was all lies though, she did it to get his attention, and only his, sure she loved that emerald to bits but then again you can't cuddle with a rock, you can't kiss a rock, and a rock can't tell you it loves you.

So anyway, this morning Rouge decided that she would go and visit her 'favourite jewel' and then return later on to accompany Shadow on a mission. As the ivory bat walked out the exit of the building, she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see a dark and mysterious hedgehog looking straight at her with little emotion in his eyes.

"And where do you think you're going?" Shadow asked displeased with her sudden idea to take off.

Rouge playfully smiled and batted away his hand softly, "Don't worry hun, I'll be back for our mission in time, I just need to go and visit _my_ Master Emerald." She teased with a wink as she spread her wings while still standing to face Shadow.

Shadow still didn't seem amused, he hated it when she would just randomly take off without letting him know where she intended on going. "And when were you planning of telling me this?" He replied sternly.

Rouge mused to herself, "Awww, do you miss me when I leave the base? Oh you are just too sweet Shadow the hedgehog." She said seductively as she used her wings to lift herself off the ground. Shadow just stood there and ignored the comment with one of his trademark "Hmph's".

Rouge then took to the sky in search for the majestic floating Island, home to the one and only echidna left in existence, or so they thought. Shadow just stood at the entrance to the base and watched the professional jewel thief gracefully ascend to the heavens, leaving him to occupy himself for a few good hours.

The ebony hedgehog looked down at his feet for a few seconds as he shut the door, causing a large shadow to engulf the once warm rays of sunlight that were upon his face. He had always liked the dark, it reminded him of his time on the ARK in space, with Maria.  
She was the only one who understood him, who ever showed him kindness, and to this very day he still remembers the loveable memories they shared together. He missed her, he missed everything about her, the way she smiled, the way she laughed and the way she would brighten his day.

He tried not to think too much about her, it only caused the pain in his heart to grow, perhaps one day he'd be able to forget her and move on. But then again, he never wanted to forget...

* * *

Meanwhile,

On a tropical floating Island filled with lush jungles, breath-taking waterfalls, and the most beautiful landscapes you could ever image was home to the last living echidna known to man. Sleeping peacefully the young guardian was perched on top of the Master Emerald, dreaming away about the times he had before Sonic had came into his life.

_*In his Dream*_

_It was a warm sunny morning on Angel Island, the birds were singing, the flowers were in bloom and the only sound that could be heard was the gentle rhythm someone whispering his name._

"_Knuckles? Knuckles? Hey kiddo, are you awake?" A deep male voice called as he slowly shook the once slumbering echidna awake._

"_Huh?" Was all Knuckles could respond with as he groggily sat up in his bed._

_Once he had focused his eye-sight, he realised who was waking him up. It was his older brother, Radam.  
Radam was a full grown echidna at the age of 28 years old, he was in charge of looking after his little brother Knuckles as they had no parents. Radam was practically the spitting image of Knuckles, only just 12 more years older than him, he was bigger than Vector, both in height and mass. Radam was a tall dark-red echidna with dark purple eyes, his quills were a lot longer than Knuckles' and he had a nasty scar over his right eye, and a matching one on his left cheek. His hands were huge compared to Knuckles' and he was the strongest echidna he knew._

You see, Knuckles was born 4000 years ago in Tikal's time where he grew up until the age of 16 and when Chaos attacked he was put in suspended animation until he woke in Sonic's time 4000 years later. Though he had kept that his little secret from his friends as he was the only one left now, and if he told anyone, it could upset his relationships with his friends.

_Knuckles sat up in his bed as his older brother playfully threw a pillow at his face, knocking him back into his bed once again. Knuckles smiled at his brother's antics and just let out a sigh in response. _

"_C'mon! Time to get up. You've got training this morning!" Radam teased as he literally picked up Knuckled and shook him upside down._

"_Okay! Okay! I'm up! I'm up!" Knuckles whined as Radam tossed him back in his bed. Radam's personality was similar to Knuckles, he can be very serious at times, but he also liked to have some fun._

_Knuckles got up and walked out the door of his home into the massive village of echidnas, there were all sorts of echidnas roaming around with jobs to do. There were the warriors who spent the majority of their time training, the women and elders who specialised in healing and powers of a similar degree, the shop owners and of course there was the Princess._

_The village was quite wealthy and consisted of many temples and stone homes where the echidnas would live, and at the top of the village stood a castle where the King and his daughter lived._

_As Knuckles went to walk into the village he heard his name being called again, he turned around to see the beautiful Princess Echidna Tikal waving at him._

"_Knuckles! Oh Knuckles!" She sweetly called out to him as she ran towards him with a smile. Knuckles did the same, but as he tried to get closer to her, his dream was beginning to fade way as she still called out to him._

"Oh Knuckie! Wake up!" Knuckles snapped back into reality to find a certain snow white bat hovering above him, calling out his name and tickling his nose with her finger.

"Geeze, it's about time you got up Knucklehead, it'd be too easy for me to steal the emerald without you trying to hold my hands back." Rouge seductively teased as she poked his nose before he jumped to his feet.

"**Hey!** What're you doing here Bat-girl!" Knuckles growled as he swatted away her hand, making her fly back a meter or so.

The curvy winged thief then placed her hand upon her chest and said hurtfully, "Oh! And I thought you'd be happy to see me!" Rouge teased sarcastically as she flew past him and stood beside him on the M.E.

"**Get off!"** Knuckles ordered as he growled at the bat who did as she was told.

"Okay! Okay! Geeze, someone woke up on the wrong side of the emerald didn't he?" She continued to tease.

The two of them then began to bicker and squabble about who should have the Master Emerald and who is the better fighter and so on and so forth. They had been arguing for such a long time that neither of them had noticed the large thunder storm that had overcome the island.

"Would you look at that?" Rouge stopped arguing and pointed to the sky, noticing the dark heavy storm clouds that had rolled in almost instantly.

"That's odd, Angel Island rarely gets storms like these. It's not even the wet season yet." Knuckles stated as they both looked up at the sky.

A single rain drop then landed on Knuckles nose, making him flinch from the sudden contact, Rouge then turned to him with a seductive smile.

"Well I better get going, don't want to get my hair wet know do we?" She taunted as she walked past the grumpy guardian with her hips shaking from side to side.

"Good riddance." Knuckles said bluntly as thunder could be heard in the distance.

Rouge then stood beside him with a cheeky smile, "Oh now Knuckie, don't be such a stick-in-the-mud," She continued as she walked slightly behind him, "Just forget about it and, **Turn the other Cheek!**" She laughed as she slapped Knuckles' bottom and took to the skies laughing.

Knuckles' face turned bright red as she flew past him giggling away at her own antics, he then began to stomp his feet and waving his hands frantically in the air while shouting out to her.

**"ARE YOU KIDDING ME! GET BACK HERE AND FIGHT LIKE A TRUE WARRIOR YOU COWARD!"** He shouted at her, only to hear her faint giggling in the distance. He continued to shout stuff out to her until he couldn't see her anymore, unfortunately he had to get going as the rain began to fall from the sky.

As he took shelter in a nearby cave where he could still clearly see the emerald, he couldn't shake the feeling that this storm wasn't just an average thunder storm.

And how right he was, he just wasn't aware of it at the moment but this storm could only be bad news.

* * *

There we go guys!  
I hope you guys like the first chapter, and don't worry things will get more interesting at the story continues.

Please Read and Review!


	2. An Unlikely Storm

I'm back again with my next chapter of 'The Return', and I would just like to thank the people who have either followed or favourite this story already!

A big thank you to you!

And as the story goes on, more characters will be added I promise!

* * *

It was still fairly early in the morning when our favourite pink heroine woke from her slumber to go about her usual daily activities, mostly involving chasing her one true love Sonic the Hedgehog. Amy got to her feet and slipped on her favourite pink fuzzy slippers and walked down stairs into her kitchen for a nice healthy breakfast.

She sat down at the table in her soft light pink nightgown and flicked on the TV while casually munching on some warm buttered toast. The morning cartoons were always something that would brighten up her day, even though when she looked outside it was pouring down rain.

Amy sighed, why did it have to be raining today? Today she had planned to meet up with Sonic at the park after she overheard his and Tails' conversation the other day. Sure he'd probably find it a bit creepy if she randomly rocked up to the park and hung out with them, uninvited that is. Amy had thought about this though, she would act surprised to see him and Tails at the park and pretend she was just going on a walk to the corner store to get some milk. Foolproof.

She glanced outside again to see what the weather was doing, just like before, it was still raining. The bubblegum pink hedgehog thought to herself, "Sonic probably won't even show today, he doesn't like to get wet." She thought sadly.

"But then again, I can't take that chance!" She said out loud to herself as she jumped from her chair and ran back up to her room to get changed.

So what it was raining, big deal she thought. If Sonic could battle giant water-monsters, fight endless amounts of battles and still defeat Eggman on a daily basis, he should have no trouble walking in a little rain. The wild girl then went to her walk-in closet to grab out her usual red dress and boots as well as a cute red rain-coat to match. Sure she was going to get wet anyway, but hey, she had to at least look good doing it right?

She then placed her red head band on top of her short bouncy hair and ran out the door hoping that her true-blue hero would still be game enough to come out in the rain.

* * *

In other places, Sonic had finally woken Tails up so that they could get on with their daily routines too. The two brothers were happily walking in the rain with a big yellow umbrella over their heads, Sonic didn't really mind the rain, as long as it didn't develop into a flood that is. Tails on the other hand was okay with the rain, but thunder and lightning were not his thing, believe it or not Tails was actually frightened of lightning. The random outbursts of light and pure energy that could instantly kill you if you got hit, the constant fear of not being able to move fast enough to dodge it. It was all too much for Tails, he would rather be inside working on a machine or be upstairs wrapped up in a warm blanket reading a book, but no. Sonic got him up and practically dragged him out the door to go for a 'fun run in the rain' as he called it.

As the two made their way into the wet city streets, they were actually kind of surprised about the amount of mobians who were actually out in the city going about their own jobs.

Tails' looked around and sighed, "Oh c'mon buddy, it's not that bad!" Sonic said gleefully as they continued to walk underneath the covered walkways.

Sonic then put the umbrella down and shook off the remaining droplets of water that had landed on his cobalt fur. Tails only cringed at his brothers' antics as the excess droplets then landed on his peachy golden fur.

Sonic let out a small chuckle, "C'mon Tails, how about we go and get some chilly dogs or something? It's kinda cold out here." The azure hedgehog offered as the two walked to the nearest dog-stand they could find.

After the brothers had their late-breakfast/early lunch they decided to go for another walk up-town to visit the old playground they used to use as kids. That said playground held many memories, it's where Sonic, Tails and Amy used to play when they were younger, and it was always nice to revisit those somewhat lost childhood memories.

The two reached their destination and reminisced about all the good times that had at that very playground, that was until they heard the calling of a very affectionate pink hedgehog.

Sonic winced at the sound of her voice, his ears cringed at the sudden high-pitched noise that echoed from her mouth. It's not that he didn't like Amy, it was just that she could be annoying or a handful at times.

"What is she doing out on a day like this?" Sonic mumbled loud enough for Tails to hear. But it was too late before Tails could answer as the peppy young hedgehog approached the brothers with a smile on her face that stretched from ear to ear.

"Hi Sonnikku!" Amy cheered as she gave a tight hug to Sonic.

"Hi Amy!" Tails replied cheerfully as he nudged Sonic to say hello.

After a small pause Sonic finally greeted the star struck girl with a calm "Hello Amy."

Amy giggled and released her favourite toy-boy, "What a coincidence running into you two at this park!" She said trying to sound as genuine as possible. "What're you guys doing here?" She continued with a smile.

"We could as you the same thing," Sonic started with a smirk, "What's a girl like you doing out here on such a rainy, cloudy cold day such as this?" He questioned.

Amy began to sweat, she could lie, but when it came to Sonic she always seemed to crumble at his authority. "Oh ya 'know, just gettin' some store-corner." She stumbled. "I mean milk! Corner-store milk! Yes I was just getting some milk for the corner-store." She finished with a sheepish grin.

Sonic chuckled, "That's funny because I don't see any milk with you, and know that you think about it, most of the stores are shut today and most of them don't sell milk." He smirked.

"Oh! Well I-I was just going to-" Amy was cut off again by Tails.

"And why would you be buying milk?" Tails asked confused, "Hedgehogs don't digest milk very well if you know what I mean." The kitsune replied with nervous giggle.

"Well that's none of your business!" Amy whined, she was becoming frustrated with the boy's sudden interest in her milk-related life. "What? Can't a girl go to the store and buy a jug of milk?" She said in annoyance.

"Well what would you do with a jug of milk you can't drink!?" Sonic asked also becoming frustrated with the hedgehog's antics. He knew that she had followed them, she must have overheard their conversation the other day, but she would never admit to it.

"I'll give it to my friend! If you really must know." She snobbed.

"Who is...?" Sonic pushed her to tell the truth, but this only caused things to heat.

Amy was under pressure, this whole lie was going on too far, and she needed back up. "Shadow!" She blurted out, while still trying to keep her composure.

Sonic's face dropped, really? Shadow was the first person she thought of? They're not even friends.

"Shadow?" Sonic said unpleased.

"Yep!" Amy replied almost instantly.

Sonic sighed, this was going on for too long and he was getting sick of Amy's silly excuses for following them, at first it was sort of funny, but now it was becoming a pain. He rose from his seat and turned away.

"Wow, would you look at the time." He said un-sarcastically, "Well Tails we better get going, don't want to miss out on any of that new TV show!" He finished while taking hold of Tails' arm.

"Sonic wait!" Amy whined as she went to glomp her hedgehog, but just before she could, Sonic purposely sped off making her fall into a puddle of mud.

Amy sat up and looked in the distance to see her love running away from her once again, was it something she said or did? Or was it because he just didn't actually like her at all?  
She didn't know, but the more she thought about it, the more it began to hurt.

The once happy hedgehog looked down at herself, she was now covered in mud and smelt awful, she was lucky she wore that raincoat today otherwise her entire outfit would've been ruined.

She stood up and pealed the drenched and sticky raincoat off her shoulders and threw it away in the nearest bin she could find. With her head held low she walked alone in the rain to find the closest bus stop she could, unfortunately the nearest one was located in the middle of the rain, with no undercover area to sit.

* * *

So the lonesome girl sat on the side of the gutter and waited for the bus to come, sadly the rain began to get heavier and heavier, leaving the hedgehog to more and more soaked. Tears were forming in her eyes, how could've this day gone from so good to so bad?

She slumped down and placed her head in between her legs and sobbed silently, it wasn't until a moment later she noticed that the rain had stopped falling on her, but it was still raining _around_ her. She looked up to see a black umbrella being held above her, she looked over to the person who was holding it and mutely gasped.

"Shadow?" She spoke softly as she blinked a couple of times to see his emotionless expression looking down on her.

"I don't see why you waste your time chasing that faker." He said sternly, and with that he placed the umbrella in her hands and took off without another word.

Amy just sat there for a moment and recapped what just happened. "Shadow the Hedgehog, the most feared hedgehog in the land just came and gave me _his_ umbrella." She thought to herself.

Surely enough a soft smile made its way across the young mobian's lips, he was always so silent and mysterious, yet he could say a thousand words without even opening his mouth. Soon enough the bus pulled up in front of her and she got on, sure it had been a bad morning, but she still had the afternoon to look forward to.

* * *

Shadow had made it back to base with barely a drop on him, running so fast in the rain does have its perks. But more importantly he was on time for his mission with Rouge, he liked to get a head start at things because the sooner you start, the sooner you can finish.

He entered the top quarters of the building without any worries, he walked through the door and was surprised to see his partner home so early from her 'visit' to Angel Island.

"There you are!" Rouge complained as she wringed out her now soaked hair, "Did you even think about leaving me a note or something!?" She continued.

Shadow just rolled his eyes, sure he liked Rouge, she was his partner in crime, but sometimes she would just try to put him on a leash. She could go anywhere she pleases without a care in the world, but as soon as he tried to leave she would put him on a leash and tie him to a post.

The ebony hedgehog continued to walk past her and look out the window at this unusual storm that had overcome Mobius.

"If you're wondering about the weather, not ask me hun." She stated, "I barely got a chance to steal that emerald when this wacky-weather rolled in." She finished.

"And where on Earth have you been? You do realise we have a job to do ya' know." Rouge complained again, only this time she stood right in front of him.

Shadow didn't respond at first but after a slight pause he began to speak, "I was out." He replied bluntly.

This only made the ivory bat more annoyed, "Out where?" She argued.

"It's none of your concern." He rudely replied while walking away.

"You're a real charmer you know that Shadow!"Rouge called out to him angrily. "Why are all men so grumpy on rainy days," she thought to herself. "Days like these are the perfect days to cuddle up and snuggle on the couch while watching Disney movies." She continued to think while watching the rain fall down on the window.

She looked up into the dark stormy sky and wondered how Knuckles would be fairing in a storm such as this one.

* * *

Aha, there we go!  
Another chapter completed!

And please comment and let me know what you think, or if you have ideas/complaints or questions


	3. The return of Tikal

Back again guys!

That's if anyone is actually reading my story X'D

Anyway, here is the next chapter of 'The Return'.

* * *

It was now around 10:00 at night and this disastrous storm was only getting worse, especially for a certain red echidna who was trying his best to keep his island safe. The only problem was that the storm seemed to be drawn to his island, down on Mobius things were pretty bad, but up here things were worse.

The young guardian shield himself from flying debris and tried to make his way back up the stairs to the ancient altar which was beginning to crumble underneath the impact of the storm. Once he had reached the top of the stairs he could only gasp at what he saw, his island was being destroyed this very moment. The trees' roots were snapping from underneath them, causing them to fall and crush other wildlife and ancient pillars that had stood there for over 4000 years. Knuckles was powerless to do anything about it, if he went out into the jungle at this time of night, and in this type of weather, he'd most likely not make it back in one piece.

Knuckles shook the thought off, he had to protect the Master Emerald even if it meant being a human-shield in front of it and battering away all of the flying debris that were surrounding it. One by one, more fallen sticks, branches, rocks and objects were hurled towards him, and with each one making a larger impact than the first. He could handle it though, he was strong just like his ancestors and he wasn't going to let a storm get the better of him. But before he could do anything else, the skies above him began to rumble and shake, the storm was becoming worse by the second and Knuckles was caught right in the middle of it.

He looked around to see the other inhabitants of the island, various animals and creatures cowering underneath any cover they could find. His expression softened, he knew what it was like to lose his home, to lose his family, and to lose his friends. He wasn't going to give up on these creatures, he had lost parts of his life, and he wasn't going to let it happen to these innocent creatures.

And with that, the red guardian left the shrine of the Master Emerald and went to help rescue some of the animal's habitats. Either by sheltering animals in caves, lifting debris off their homes or just rescuing them from falling trees. As strange as it seems, Knuckles was becoming exhausted, all of these animals on this island needed his help, but there was only so much he could do.

The storm was still raging on and Knuckles decided to go back and check on his emerald, it's not like anyone would think to steal it in this kind of weather though. As he ran back up the massive stone stairs while dodging falling pieces of jungle, he couldn't help but occasionally slip or fall over. The stairs were soaked and slippery, making them all the more dangerous, not to count the fact that the shrine was slowly eroding with every step he took.

Just as he reached the top he found a small yellow and blue Chao, must similar to 'Cheese' who was Cream's pet. The small Chao looked at him with tears in its eyes as it began to cry and scream out for help, Knuckles didn't know what to do, he hadn't seen Chao's on this Island for years. It didn't matter though because before Knuckles could react, the Chao pounced onto his chest and wouldn't let go. Knuckles feeling flustered, tried to pry the small creature off his chest, but it was no use as the Chao just wanted to feel safe, and surprisingly Knuckles' chest was the place to be.

"Fine! You can stay, but we have to keep moving!" He practically yelled to the chao over all of the wind and rain that was pelting down onto them.

Just as Knuckles went to touch the Master Emerald, another roar from the heavens crackled through the sky. The sound of this thunder was unbearable, it was so loud that he had to cover his ears in defence. But before he thought nothing could get any worse, a large and bright lightning strike came directly down from the sky and electrocuted the Master Emerald.

Knuckles was sent flying back with the small Chao in his arms as another blast of lightning struck the emerald, causing it to ricochet in multiple directions. Lightning was striking everywhere and knuckles had to retreat into his cave, it was too dangerous to go out in the storm any longer. The only thing he could do was to sit back and watch the lightning constantly strike his emerald with enormous amounts of energy and power. The Master Emerald was practically a hovering target for this lightning, but it was also very strange too, Knuckles had never witnessed a storm like this.

Neither had the small chao that had befriended the Guardian, it was hiding behind Knuckles as it too watched the horror show of nature go on outside. He looked down at it and saw the fear within its eyes, it reminded him of himself as a child. Hiding behind his older brother for safety and protection when something had frightened him, just standing there would be enough to make him feel safe, even if he knew things were only going to get worse.

A large crackle of thunder snapped him back into reality as he saw yet another bolt of lightning strike the Master Emerald, only this time a blinding light swept over the island making it impossible to see, the sound of the impact sent him deaf too. It was like the sound of static mixed with a deafening screech, he couldn't see, he couldn't hear, all he could feel was the ground beneath him rumbling and shaking.

Once the noise had stopped and he had his vision back, he immediately looked over to see if the Master Emerald was still okay. He glanced back to the small Chao which was safely clinging to his shoulder and back. He looked down to the ground again and realised that the earth beneath him was still shaking and slowly crumbling underneath his feet.

Panic rushed through his veins, what on earth was happening to his Island?

In just that moment he looked back over the Emerald and saw a strange figure knocked down in front of it. He bolted out into the storm, whoever this person was they needed help, but just as he was running he noticed that the water was up to his ankles. The island was flooding. As he struggled to run through the water which was getting deeper and deeper as he approached the shrine he called out to the figure at the top.

"**Hang On! I'm coming to Get You!"** He called out them. As he tried to look up he still couldn't see who this mysterious figure was, the rain was too heavy and blocking his sight.

"Okay!" A feminie voice replied shakily as she called down to him.

Knuckles then took his best grip of the stairs as the earth was still shaking violently, he only had one shot at this, go up there, get the girl, and get down. That was the plan.

He ran up the stairs trying not to fall off or get blown away, he glanced back down to see that the ground around him was slowly disappearing. The waters were getting so high that the Island was now in full flood. He shook the thought out of his mind, he had to get that person down from there. As he continued to run up the stairs he stopped half way and gasped at the figure above him.

Standing at the top of the altar was a young female echidna, she had peach fur and was wearing a tribal skirt with green and white markings on them. He recognised her, but it couldn't be, it was impossible, was it?

"Tikal?" He whispered to himself.

But before he could say anything else, the ancient stone stairs he was on cracked in half, separating him for the young princess who was still clutching onto the emerald with her life. Knuckles almost fell back, but he regained his stance as he saw the top of the shrine begin to crumble. If she stayed up there she'd either fall and get crushed to her death, or be struck by lightning.

"**YOU HAVE TO JUMP!"** Knuckles shouted out to her with his arms wide open. **"I'LL CATCH YOU! YOU JUST HAVE TO TRUST ME!"** He yelled.

"**I CAN'T"** She screamed back as the altar began to fall.

"**TRUST ME!"** He called out to her for the final time as she screamed and leaped into the air.

She used all of her strength to leap from the top of the shrine and into the air, just as she did the stone shrine that was beneath her began to fall into the watery flooded land that was Angle Island. Knuckles held his ground as he saw the young tribe girl jump straight towards him with fear in her eyes. Knuckles braced for the impact and caught her in his arms, but just as that happened, the force from her jump resulted in the Guardian stumbling backwards as the rest of the shrine fell.

They closed their eyes and held onto each other as they felt the earth beneath their feet leave, and replaced that feeling with fear as they fell into the water below them. Knuckles had underestimated how deep the water actually was, when he had first reached the shrine, it was only up to his knees, but now he couldn't reach the bottom. They both landed with a mighty splash as they both desperately tried to keep on the surface of the water, but it was no use, with the entire falling stone, temple and ruins crashing into the water, they were mostly likely to drown.

Sure, it was only a few metres drop into the water below the shrine, but with all of this heavy rain, damage and destruction, soon enough both echidnas were struggling to breath. The sounds of this disaster were horrendous, it'd be like listening to a horror movie, everything breaking, snapping and everyone screaming for help. Screaming as they both felt the water gush over their bodies, forcing them back underwater, it was too dark to see, all they could hear was screaming and the sound of gushing water splashing on their faces.

The two held onto each other as the waves from falling debris kept knocking them down, soon enough they felt as if it was natural. The screaming had stopped, it had sounded like everything had gone numb, and the thrashing of waves wasn't as scary as they felt their lungs fill with water. The sky went dark and the sound of rain disappeared as they slowly began to sink underneath the deep murky water. Everything was going dark...

That was until a very large green reptile arm swooped into the water and pulled the two unconscious echidnas out of their soon-to-be watery graves.

"**I got them! I've got them!"** Vector shouted out to the gang.

Soon enough Sonic, Shadow, Rouge and the Chaotix ran towards the green crocodile who was holding both echidnas in his large muscular arms. The storm hadn't stopped raging and they needed to get off the Island as soon as possible, for both their safety and the echidnas'.

The sound of an engine was heard as the gang loaded the echidna's into Tails' plane and flew off almost instantly. **"We've got to get them to a Hospital!"** Espio shouted to Sonic as he assessed their wounds.

"**I'm on it!"** Sonic called back as he flew the plane down to Mobius as fast as he could, the one main worry in his mind. **"Are they alive!?" **Sonic called back again with concern in his voice.

"**Keep flying!"** Shadow shouted as he too looked at their wounds.

"**Not until you tell me if they're Alive!"** He almost screamed back to them with tears swelling in his eyes, Knuckles couldn't be dead. He just couldn't be.

* * *

There you go!

Another drama-filled chapter with plenty more on the way!

Please read and review!


	4. A new look on things

Hello again

Here's the nest chapter I'll be posting, and thank you to:

Adrian77- for his lovely comments on my work :D

At the Hospital.

It was roughly around 4:00 in the morning by the time the gang had got to the hospital, Knuckles and his mysterious lady friend were immediately rushed into the emergency room. Sonic and the gang had to wait outside the room, or in the waiting room where they would be able to relax, have a bite to eat, and get the latest reports from the doctors.

As the hospital staff took Knuckles away from Sonic's grasp, he had to use all of his strength to compose himself. He knew the doctors were only there to help his friends in times of need, but the thought of someone taking away his best-friend was almost unbearable. He had to watch the doctors and staff load the echidnas onto the stretchers and wheel them away, Sonic just wanted to chase after them, just to make sure Knuckles would be okay.

He felt sick to the stomach, knowing that his buddy was on the verge of death and he was powerless to stop it. He also had a strange fear that the doctors wouldn't release him after they fixed him up because he was the last of his kind, or so they had thought.

All the blue-blur could do was stand there and watch them wheel knuckles away, into another room where Sonic may never see him again. All of these thoughts were rushing around his head like an angry swarm of bees, just begging him to do something.

He snapped back into reality when he felt a hand place itself upon his shoulder, "It'll be okay," Espio said as he turned to face Sonic with worry hidden behind his golden eyes.

The sky-blue hedgehog just sighed and looked back to the emergency room where they had taken the two echidnas. Soon enough Sonic, Shadow, Rouge and the Chaotix were sitting in the waiting room, just watching the time tick by. It had been over an hour and still no word, Sonic was beginning to get worried, was Knuckles okay? Or was he dead and the staff just wouldn't tell him until the morning? The stress was building on all members of the team, Sonic had been in touch with Vanilla and the remainder of the team, to keep them up-dated on the situation.

The silence had been killing the small gang as they patiently waited in their designated room, thankfully a tall dark grey wolf approached them.

"Hello," He said, "As you may not know, I am the doctor in charge around here, just call me 'Doctor'" He continued as he flipped through some papers. "I'm here to tell you that you're friends will be okay," He said with a slight smile.

A heavy sigh of relief was heard throughout the waiting room.

"They were very lucky to have survived, and with minimal injuries too." The Doctor continued. "Both patients are stable, and you may go and see them now, but they will still be fast asleep and I advise you not to wake them." He finished sternly.

As he did a young female Dalmatian nurse walked in, she smiled sweetly at them. "Excuse me, but do any of you know the young female echidna? We don't have any of her files here." She asked politely.

The gang shook their heads, Sonic knew she looked familiar, but he just couldn't put his finger on it. So the gang then proceeded to walk down the clean and polished hallway to where Knuckles' room was located. They slowly opened the door without making a sound and entered in silently as they walked over to his bed.

Sonic pulled back the curtain to see his red friend, fast asleep in his bed. He was pale and bruised around the chest, face and torso, Knuckles also had a nasty thick deep cut across his forehead which was neatly wrapped in bandages. The gang couldn't help but stare, he looked so ill to the point where you truly felt sorry for him.

The blue hedgehog sighed as he walked up to his injured friend's bed, he sat down next to the echidna and stroked his sharp long quills. The others only stood by and watched, not daring to take their eyes off of the amethyst eyed echidna for one second as he lied so perfectly still on the bed. Charmy yawned as he slowly feel asleep on top of Shadow's head, making the hedgehog growl in annoyance. Just as the ebony hedgehog was about to swat the little bee away from him, Rouge quickly took the child and held him in her arms.

The dark hedgehog then shot a nasty glare at the innocent sleeping bee, "Hmpf." He grunted as he turned his back and exited the room.

Before any of the others could respond, Sonic slowly turned his head towards Vector and placed a hand upon his shoulder. "Thank you." The cobalt hedgehog whispered.

The green croc turned to him with a confused expression, "What for?" he replied still staring at the emerald eyed mammal.

"For saving Knuckles, if it wasn't for you, Knuckles probably wouldn't be alive right now." Sonic said gratefully. "You're a Hero Vector, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise." He finished while still stroking Knuckles' head, making sure not to hurt him.

Vector blinked, "Well, uhh thank you, Sonic." He replied awkwardly, "But it really wasn't such a big deal, I mean-" The croc was cut off by Sonic's sudden outburst.

"Don't be modest Vector! I had totally forgotten that Knuckles' existed today, and if you didn't beg me to fly you to Angel Island, Knuckles would be dead right now." He finished darkly. Sonic felt so guilty, not only because he felt as if he had neglected Knuckles, but for not being able to save him. The hedgehog couldn't swim, and he saw the echidna's limp body just sink into the unknown, unable to stop it.

"Sonic..." Vector tried to reason, "I know what happened today was a close call, but we have to remember Knuckles' opinion in all of this." Vector said seriously as he motioned towards the sleeping echidna. "Even if none of us came to Angel Island tonight, Knuckles would have made it. He always does, even you know that Sonic." He finished with a slight warm smile. "Try not to beat yourself up about it, ok?"

Sonic just nodded quietly as the rest of the gang left the room, the doctors said they could stay the remainder of the night in the hospital's spare rooms. After all, it was about 4:00 in the morning and the gang was exhausted, they'd call the rest of the team in the morning to let them know what's going on.

Sonic stayed behind, still sitting comfortably next to Knuckles of his bed. Sonic looked sadly at him as he placed his hand over Knuckles' giant gloved fist and quietly spoke to him softly. "I'm sorry Knux..." he whispered with tears swelling in his eyes. "I'm so sorry..."

In another dark hallway stood Shadow, showing no emotion at all as he solidly leant against one of the sterilised hospital walls. He looked up one side of the hallway, and then back down the other way, it was silent. As he continued to lie against the wall with his eyes slightly closed, he couldn't help but notice a small gap of light, leaking from underneath a closed door.

He scanned the closed door with more attention and walked towards it. As he stopped in front of the door, he looked both ways to see if anyone was coming, and proceeded to read the description written on the door. He studied it closely and realised that behind this door was the young girl who was with Knuckles when the Island was breaking.

He didn't know what was compelling him, but he had the strangest urge to open the door and see who exactly it was hidden behind these walls. The ebony hedgehog than quickly checked again to see if anyone was coming before slowly opening the door and siding himself through.

The sudden brightness from the lights in her room sent him blind for a few seconds as he stumbled in, shielding his eyes from the intense glow. Once his eyes had adjusted to the new conditions he scanned the room from left to right, only to find the young sleeping echidna resting in her bed. She was as still as the night, the only form of movement she was displaying was her chest slightly rising and falling with every calm breath she took.

She lied there, as peaceful as can be, her long flowing quills were hugging her face, shaping her features in perfect harmony. Her luscious long eyelashes, as dark as night, softly caressed her cheeks as they fluttered while she was dreaming. From her eyelashes he looked down to see her beautiful plump lips, naturally glossy as the light shun upon them, revealing a tiny inch of her ivory white teeth as she slowly puckered her lips and nuzzled her face closer to her pillow.

Shadow continued to stare at her captivating beauty, the way she blissfully turned her head to face him still with her eyes closed. He took a step forward to get an even closer look at her, but as he did, he accidentally stumbled over a cord and fell just underneath her bed.

The young princess stirred in her sleep and slowly struggled to open her eyes, meanwhile Shadow was silently observing her every move. He watched in anticipation as she calmly lifted her eyelids to reveal her absolutely stunning sapphire eyes, the hedgehog locked his eyes on hers. His deep amber eyes looked upon her sparkling azure orbs, she did not know he was staring at her, she didn't even realise he was there. All Shadow could do was anxiously gaze at her beauty as she slowly let her eyelids fall once again upon her cherry-dusted cheeks and drift off into another dream.

Once she had fallen asleep, Shadow took his opportunity to get off of the room while making sure not to disturb her again. He slowly closed the door shut and leant his back up against it as soon as he could, he looked down at his feet and then glanced back to her room.

"_Maria..."_ He whispered to himself.

That girl in there, she reminded himself of his once best-friend, Maria. The way she looked, how she moved and her eyes, her eyes gave it away, they were just like Maria's. The ebony hedgehog then decided to leave, it would look suspicious if anyone found him snooping around a hospital, especially near her room.

Shadow made his way back past Knuckles' room and poked his head in, only to find Sonic lying fast asleep next to his crimson-friend who was still out cold. Shadow silently approached the slumbering duo and looked at Sonic, his cheeks were flustered and stained by tears, as he continued motion towards Knuckles, he placed his hand on his forehead. The gloomy hedgehog then gently stroked the echidna's quills, making sure he wouldn't wake him, but just enough to show that he cared.

Shadow then walked down the side of his bed and pulled the blankets up from his feet and tucked the young guardian into bed. He fluffed the pillow behind his head and gave him some more support, once again he then stroked his quills and wiped some drool off his lower lip. Once all of that was done, Shadow quietly switched off the lamp next to the bed and headed towards the door.

As he got there he heard a quick shuffle of sheets and then the next thing he saw was Sonic standing in front of him. The blue hedgehog gave him a cheesy smirk.

"Weren't you just asleep with your teddy?" Shadow huffed.

"And people say you're heartless," Sonic chuckled while the two of them walked out of the room, leaving their friend to sleep in peace.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Shadow replied darkly as they walked down the hallway.

"Don't deny it, you've got a soft spot for that ol'Knucklhead, don't cha?" Sonic teased while standing in front of Shadow.

"You're the one who was sleeping next to him." Shadow stated.

"I was only keeping him company, one of us had to be in the same room as him, just in case he woke up in pain or something." Sonic argued happily. "C'mon Shads, I know you do."

"I do not have a 'soft spot' for anyone, especially not you." He replied grumpily as he tried to walk in front and around his blue counterpart.

"Awww, I'm hurt Shadow," Sonic teased. "But seriously, if you don't, then why did you tuck him in, and stroke his hair, and wipe the little bit of drool off his face?" Sonic laughed as he playfully nudged Shadow's shoulder.

Shadow avoided eye contact as he looked away, a slight blush growing on his tan cheeks, "Shut up, hedgehog."

And there we go!

Yet another chapter done, I wish people were reading this!  
If not, then I might discontinue this story.


	5. Wake up!

Hi guys!

This is just the next chapter for 'The Return' and thank you to Adrian77 and Kirbymon11 for commenting!  
I love you guys!

The next morning...

It was roughly 8:00 in the morning as the gang patiently sat in the waiting room, ironically they were waiting for the rest of the team to arrive at the hospital. It was still pouring down rain outside, this bizarre wet had been going on for days now and for some reason it just didn't feel right, it wasn't even the rain season yet. Sonic, Shadow, Rouge and the Chaotix felt as if they had been sitting in that room for hours before the rest of the team decided to show up.

With a small push of the door, Amy, Cream, Vanilla, and Tails quietly entered the peaceful hospital. Amy was the first to spot the gang as she entered the room with concern and worry for her friends, Vanilla walked in next with Tails and Cream still under her umbrella.

"Oh my it is wet out there," Vanilla said as she walked in the door while pulling down her umbrella. It was still raining outside, the sidewalks were coated in a thin layer of water, the gutters on top of buildings were practically overflowing and the sky didn't look like it was going to change anytime soon.

Cream on the other hand happily skipped down the hall straight to Vector and gave him a warm hug. The croc was a little taken back when she did this as he looked at her confusingly, the little bunny then smiled at him and gave him a brightly coloured card.

Vector took the vividly coloured piece of paper and studied it carefully, it read:

"_To Mr Vector,_

_Thank you very very much for saving Mr Knuckles and his pretty lady friend!  
You're a really big hero!_

_Xoxox - Love Cream."_

The cute little card was coloured in all shades of the rainbow, it was hand-written by the young rabbit and it was also coloured with her favourite colouring crayons.

Vector smiled at her small token of gratitude, "Wow, thanks Cream!" He said thoughtfully as he wrapped his large muscular arm around the little bunny's waist as he returned the hug. Cream giggled softly as she smiled at her new favourite 'hero', Vanilla then approached the two with a warm smile as she greeted the large reptile.

"What you did was very brave, Vector." She said sweetly.

Vector's heart leaped into his throat as he was lost for words, "Oh! It, it was nothing! Ma'am!" He said nervously as he shook her hand while staring into her chocolate brown eyes.

Meanwhile, Amy had potted along passed Sonic, avoiding all eye contact with him as she made her way over to the ebony hedgehog standing in the corner of the room. Sonic watched on by as she completely ignored him and walked over to Shadow. _'Where is she going?' _Sonic thought. _'She still isn't mad about the whole thing at the park, is she?'_

Before Sonic could even stand up to protest, a young golden fox with two tails came up to him, "Morning Sonic," He greeted with a small smile, "I heard what happened to Knuckles, is he going to be okay?" The kitsune asked worriedly as he looked up at his older brother with concern in his eyes.

Sonic noticed the fear within Tails' eyes and decided not to stress the kid out anymore, "Wha? Oh you mean that ol' Knucklehead," He said with a chuckle, "Nah, he's gonna be fine." He finished with one of his signature thumbs up.

This made the fox smile, but Sonic couldn't help feeling that the worst was still to come, they hadn't even seem him when he was awake. For all they know he could be in serious pain. Before Sonic could even think about shaking the thought out of his mind, he noticed Amy's high pitched giggling from across the room. His eyes darted across to the other wall to see the bubbly pink hedgehog standing in front of Shadow, laughing away as he motioned for her to sit down next to him.

Amy sat down next to the gloomy hedgehog with a smile, Shadow only nodded with the smallest of smirks plastered across his lips. For some reason Sonic felt his stomach churn, _'why would she rather sit with him that me?'_ he thought as he looked down at the empty seat next to him.

Before his thoughts could get the best of him the male Doctor walked in, "Good morning everyone," He greeted, "I am glad to say that both of your friends are expected to make a full recovery, and you may go in and see them now." He said with a smile as he gestured for them to walk down the hall.

With that, everyone got up from their seats and made their way down the incredibly clean hallways of the hospital, occasionally passing another patient who was also reciting in the hospital. As the team made their way to Knuckles' room, Sonic was the first one to slowly open the door and peek inside. Knuckles was still fast asleep, but thankfully he looked a lot healthier than he did last night. The gang quietly walked into the room and stood by his bed, waiting for him to wake up, but to their disadvantage Knuckles was still sound asleep, not even noticing their presence in the room.

"When do you think he'll wake up?" Tails asked as he looked around the group of friends.

"Hopefully soon." Amy added on with a worried expression.

Rouge chuckled, "I betcha if I gave him a kiss, he'd wake up like Sleeping Beauty and Prince Charming." The gang shared in a laugh.

Just then, the young guardian began to shift in his slumber, letting a small whimper escape his lips as he scrunched up his face. "Hey look! He's waking up!" Cream said joyfully.

Ever so slowly Knuckles' eyelids began to flutter as they gradually lifted up halfway, showing off his gorgeous amethyst eyes. He turned slightly to figure out where the noise was coming from, still half asleep he blinked a couple of times before letting out a cute little yawn. The girls in the gang couldn't resist 'awwwing' at his display of cuteness as he rubbed one of his eyes with his massively outsized hands.

Sonic leaned in closer to Knuckles' face and gently tapped his cheek with his pointer finger, "Well hey there buddy, how are ya' feeling?" Sonic said calmly.

Knuckles tried to grab the soft object that was poking his chubby puffed-up cheek, but since that task was too hard at this stage, he just ended up nuzzling away from Sonic's finger and back into the pillow. The gang chuckled at his antics, Sonic then went in to grab the guardian's lower lip and playfully tugged on it while chatting away.

"Come one Knuckles, wakey wakey!" the hedgehog teased as he played with Knuckles mouth, causing the echidna to whine and try to pull away from his grasp. Sonic wasn't going to let go, he was having way too much fun with this, it wasn't often that Knuckles would let you touch him, let alone his face.

The echidna finally faced the hedgehog with his eyes shut as he tried to reach for Sonic's hand, fortunately he actually took a grip on the hedgehog's hands. "Wet gwo..." Knuckles whined in a daze as he tried to pry Sonic's finger off his lip. Sonic laughed and kept hanging on, not that it was hard though, Knuckles couldn't even keep his eyes open.

Finally Sonic decided to be nice and release his grip on the echidnas' face, "C'mon Knux, time to get up or I'll have to keep playing with your face!" Sonic said cheekily.

It wasn't until then that Knuckles realised what was going on, he looked up to see the blue hedgehog smirking at him. "Sonic?" He said confused.

"The one and only!" Sonic replied happily. The echidna only frowned at the hedgehog's presence and curled back up into his bed, completely blocking out the guests in his room.

"Awww, what's the matter Knux?" Sonic teased, "I thought you were a morning person?"

"I know how we can get him up," Rouge spoke up seductively as she ran he finger across the echidna's back, sending a chill up his spine. "You could always tickle him." She said with a wink.

Sonic's grin grew wider and more evil by the second as he looked down at the echidna, Knuckles overhead the bat's plan and quietly sunk lower into his bed. There was a long pause as Knuckles waited for the uncomfortable torture that was about to happen to him, but surprisingly nothing happened. That was until Sonic practically jumped into him bed with him and began tickling his ribcage, being very careful not to hurt him.

Knuckles squirmed and squirmed just trying to get away from Sonic, unfortunately he was caught with Sonic lightly tickling his ribs and underarms. The echidna was trying his hardest not to laugh uncontrollably, but Sonic wasn't going to let him off the hook that easily. He continued tickling him until he heard a chuckle coming from the echidna, shortly Knuckles was pleading for him to stop.

"Stop! Stop Sonic, please!" Was all Knuckles managed to say while laughing quietly.

"And he speaks!" Sonic declared proudly as he stopped torturing his friend.

After that the gang started asking questions like 'how are you feeling?' 'Are you okay?' 'What happened?' and so on and so forth. Knuckles tried his best to answer all of the questions, but there was only so much he knew, that was until Amy asked about the young lady he was accompanied by.

"So Knuckles, who was that girl you were with?" Amy asked with a grin. Knuckles looked at her for a second and realised he had totally forgot about Tikal!

The echidna sat up straight in an instant looking around frantically to realise he was in a hospital bed, but where on earth was Tikal? Was she okay? Did she need help, was she even alive?

Knuckles faced Amy and spoke with his eyes as big as dinner plates, "Did you see my friend?! Is she okay?!" He asked with all the strength he could pull together at the moment.

Amy blinked, she smiled softly, "Don't worry Knuckles, you're friend is safely asleep in her hospital room, we can go and visit her if you like." She replied sweetly. Knuckles nodded as the gang helped him out of his bed.

The guardian sighed, at least she is safe, he had only seen her for a few minutes before everything started to break apart, he didn't even get the chance to say hello! All of these memories and thoughts were running through his head as he and the gang continued to walk down the hall towards her room. Sure, he had grew up with Tikal ever since he could remember, but he was still nervous about seeing her again, it had been so long since he had spoke to her, she was just beginning to fade into his memories.

As they were walking slowly down the halls in order for Knuckles to keep up, the gang couldn't help but question the young guardian about this young woman he was with.

"So...Knuckles," Sonic began as he walked alongside the echidna.

"Yeah?" He responded tiredly.

"Who is this girl? She seems so familiar, but I can't seem to put my finger on it." He said while sticking his tongue out to the side as he stroked his chin.

Knuckles shrugged as he turned to face away from the hedgehog, "She's just an old friend." He replied shortly. He didn't want the gang to find out that he was over 4000 years old, it would cause all sorts of troubles in both his friendships and rivalries.

"Are you sure?" Rouge butted in while nudging his shoulder. Even though the ivory bat had a thing for the echidna, she'd also tease him about other women to cover her tracks, and also to find out more about this girl, just in case she was a threat to her 'jewel'.

The echidna's cheeks flushed red as he turned towards the curvaceous bat with a dumbfounded look across his face. "Yes I'm sure." He replied bluntly as the winged woman hovered in front of him.

The seductive woman giggled, "Well that's not what your cheeks say." She flirted as she poked his now even redder cheeks. "They're always so red and squishy, it makes you want to pinch them."

Knuckles swatted her hand away, "And what would you know about my facial features?!" He growled as he continued to walk with the gang.

"Oh honey, I wasn't talking about the ones of your face." She laughed as pinched his nose and wiggled it around.

Knuckles had it, he pulled her hand off his nose and threw it to her side as he shoved past her and next to Shadow. The ebony hedgehog had been watching all along and felt somewhat sorry for the echidna, he had been put through hell, yet he still took the 'friendly' abuse he was given. Shadow then glanced back to see Sonic and Rouge laughing and carrying on about what she had said before, he then placed his arm around Knuckles and they walked ahead of the group. Sonic looked up as he wiped a tear away from his eye and saw Shadow walking around Knuckles as if they were best-friends, this made his fur stand on end, he hated it when Shadow would steal his spotlight, especially when he would steal Knuckles away from him. And Shadow knew it too.

Just as the gang approached her door, Knuckles was the first to open it. As he quietly pushed the door back on its hinge without making too much noise as the gang walked on in. He looked around to see that she wasn't in her bed were she was meant to be, instead he found her walking around the room admiring the paintings and objects on the wall.

She heard the door open, and with a humble smile she turned around to face the group of mobians who had entered her room. Her eyes lit up when she saw a familiar crimson face.

"Knuckles?"

And there you go!

Please! If you are reading this story, can you please leave a comment?! Pretty please!  
Just so I know if anyone is actually reading! ^^;


	6. A strange New World

Hi there again guys, sorry I haven't posted anything!  
But I really wasn't getting any benefit out of writing this story :/

But then I thought I might continue it for a little while, while I'm on holidays, so please leave a comment! :D

* * *

Tikal's POV

I slowly shifted in my slumber, my body hurt from its previous injuries. Was it all a dream? No. It couldn't be, otherwise I wouldn't be feeling the pain in my joints right now. I carefully sat up in my bed and looked around. Bed? Where did this come from? Where was I?

As I looked down at my legs which were gently wrapped in a warm light blue blanket, this material was so soft, I've never felt a quilt this soft before. On Angel Island we had the most beautiful and comfortable fabrics in all the land, but nothing compared to the sleek and smooth blanket I rest in now. I could only just see the colour of the blanket, this room wherever I was so dark, I could barely see the end of my bed.

I brought my knees to my chest and rested my head against them as I stroked the soft feather-filled cushion next to me. These were some beautiful luxuries they had here in this room. Wherever I was it must be a rather expensive place to stay. I delicately swung my legs over the side of the bed, my pain was gone, sure I had a slight headache, but nothing I couldn't handle.

As I stood up next to the bed, I let my eyes adjust to my surroundings. There were gorgeous paintings hung up upon the walls, there were glowing lights on pieces of metal surfaces, and there were all sorts of buttons and beepers everywhere. I walked around the room that was lit by moonlight, the cold solid floor beneath my bare feet was hard, yet reassuring. The dug my small claws on each end of my toes into the firm tiled floor, there was no way I could fall through it. Falling... Falling!

I gasped. How could I have let myself become so distracted! I was last on Angel Island with Knuckles. '_Knuckles' _His name echoed in my mind.

I remembered it all, the moment I was first sent out of the emerald, seeing his face, watching the island crumble to pieces and hearing his voice. His calm yet confident voice calling out to me, telling me it will be okay. I yearn to hear it again, it's been so long since I've actually spoken to him. What is it, about 4000 years or so?

As I continued to feel the walls for any sort of opening, I stumbled across a small lump, as I applied pressure to its lower half, it made a 'click' sound and then the room was alight with a warm golden glow. I can see everything now.

I glanced around the room I was in, it was obviously a health facility of some sort, I could actually smell the healing essences floating in the room. The room itself was rather small, it had a bed with covers, various beeping and glowing machines, a window and range of different wall hangings places around the room. I slowly looked around until my eyes came upon a door, at least I know where the exit is.

I looked out the window to see that I was high in the sky, it turns out this building was even taller than some of the temples back home on Angel Island. I thought back to my original home on Angel Island, it has been so long since I had returned to my own land. I missed it, I desired it, more than a fish desired water.

This new world was so strange to me, I knew nothing of modern living and I really just want to go home, back to my family, back to my friends.  
That's when I truly realised how far away from home I actually was. It had been 4000 years since I was actually ageing, before the war and destruction had broke out.

I remember waking up every morning with the soothing warmth of the sun on my face as I would slowly awake into a new day. I would be greeted by servants and maids on the way to the living area of my palace, though I didn't really like it. It was my Father who employed them to aid to my every whim, I would just tell them to take the day off, go back home to your family and relax. My Father didn't really agree with my way of thinking, he didn't agree with anything I believed in, not since my mother passed.

_Mother..._

The thought of her brought warmth to my heart, a sense of closure. I craved that feeling, I wanted to hold it, to feel it through my veins, but alas, my people were no more, only one was still with me, the only one who really understood me.

Knuckles. He had saved me, mostly. I wished to see him, to make sure this wasn't just some strange dream, to make sure that I was actually free, not trapped away in the Master Emerald. Becoming over beared in my own thoughts I distracted myself by casually walking around my room, admiring the exotic paintings and pictures that were hung above me.

Soon enough I heard slow heavy steps coming from behind my door, the mumbling of what sounded like a swarm of bees. I began to worry, maybe this was a dangerous place, maybe they just made the rooms look nice so that when they came to get you, you weren't expecting it. My head hurt, and my heart began pounding, was this really a safe place to be, and where was Knuckles? Had they taken him away?

I heard the door knob twist and I froze in place, waiting to see who was on the other side of this room. I held my ground as the door slowly creped open, and the first face I saw was none other than Knuckles.

He stared at me, our eyes looked in a gaze. We both stood perfectly still, too scared to move, just in case it was all a dream. I made the first move, with a stiff breath I whispered, "Knuckles?".

I saw his body tense as I said his name, he blinked at me and then smiled as he let down his guard. With a welcoming sigh he replied, "Tikal!"

With tears swelling in my eyes, I smiled and blinked away the tears as I ran towards him, practically leaping on him, embracing him in a long-awaited hug. We stood like that, holding each other for what felt like an hour before Knuckles pulled away, I glanced behind him. A group of young mobians, all different shapes and sizes, all watching up.

Knuckles noticed I was starring and quickly turned to introduce me to his friends.

"Tikal, these are my friends, well mostly..." He said. "I'd like you to meet, Sonic,"

"What's up?" The blue hedgehog replied happily.

"Miles 'Tails' Prowler."

"Please, just call me Tails." The young kitsune replied sheepishly.

"And this is Amy Rose."

"Hi there!" She replied bubbly.

"This is Miss Vanilla and her daughter Cream."

"Hello there, it's a pleasure to meet you." Vanilla greeted.

"This is the Chaotix, Vector, Espio, and Charmy." The trio replied instantly with hello's, and how do you do's.

"This is Rouge." Knuckles said bluntly.

The bat ignored his comment and replied nicely, "How're you doing, hun?"

The last person Knuckles had to introduce was the one and only Shadow the hedgehog. "And here is Shadow."

My gaze locked with Shadow, his deep crimson eyes just spelled out chaos and destruction, I couldn't pull away. Shadow dared not break eye contact, her eyes were just so similar to Maria's, deep and blue, so deep you could almost drown within her gaze.

I felt awkward and shyly turned away, looking back at Knuckles. I could hardly believe that this odd group of mobians were actually his friends, well mostly.

Amy was the first to ask me questions, "So how did you and Knuckles meet?" She asked enthusiastically as all eyes were on me.

I struggled to find an answer, I glanced at Knuckles for advice, and it was clear his group of friends did not know of his past. So I improvised.  
"Well... Ummm, Knuckles and I were friends at birth, so I guess we've known each other for as long as I can remember." I answered truthfully.

The pink hedgehog squealed of joy, "Oh isn't that cute! Just like me and Sonic!" She giggled.

The young mobian began to chitter and chatter about all of these funny and odd things she was going to show me, after a while I began to tune out, I just glanced over at Knuckles and smiled.

"_At least there's one person here who I actually know."_ I though silently.

* * *

There you go!

Please leave me a comment if you're still reading 3


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